Mops are an essential cleaning tool for many households and businesses. Over time, improvement of mops and related technologies has resulted in several categories of mops, each with specialized capabilities and intended uses. Generally, mop categories include flat-mops (including sponge, scrubbing pad, and disposable pad or “Swiffer” type mops), string-mops, and centripetal spin-mops. Cleaning with a mop can be achieved with either a wetted mop, or a dry mop. Within each category, specialized designs exist that are best suited to either wet or dry use. For fast daily maintenance cleaning, dry flat mops are often preferred. For periodic thorough cleaning, or for larger and/or wet and dirty jobs, a wet mop is required.
In order to use a wet mop, a source of liquid is required. Until recently, this meant that a bucket of water and/or a cleaning solution, or another vessel of water, such as a sink, would need to accompany a mop. Several varieties of mops now exist with a built-in liquid supply, and application means, typically a hand operated pump and sprayer. Less commonly, products exist with a separate backpack mounted fluid tank, and a means to deliver the liquid to the mop head fibers or flat pad. These are typically for commercial or institutional use.
String-mops have proven to be the preferred choice for wet mop applications, especially when large areas of flooring must be cleaned. There are two main types of mop heads utilized within the string mop category: looped and open ended mop designs. A looped mop head utilizes a continuous string, often several hundred feet in length. This string loops back and forth repetitively. Open ended mop heads use cut lengths of string, bundled and attached together. This results in cut ends of the strings contacting the floor, and typically faster absorption of the cleaning liquid solution.
Over time, string-mops have evolved from utilizing a conventional straight string into utilizing a more durable twisted string. Twisted strings are generally formed by coiling several strands together in the same direction, where the fibers within each of the strands must twist in the opposite direction as the corresponding strands. Stitch threads are generally used to keep the fibers twisted at a particular geometry. The result is a twisted string which hangs straight and resists kinking.
String-mops inherently absorb large volumes of water, whether from the cleaning solution vessel or from the flooring surface that is being cleaned. This strength is balanced by a weakness: a high level of resistance to releasing the liquid, once absorbed. As a result, several wringing mechanisms have been conceived, and are commercially available today.
While string-mops continue to be popular, they have two critical flaws. First, wringing effectiveness is dictated by the user's strength, and willingness or capability to rotate the mop's handle grip, relative to the main handle, through several full revolutions. This is both time consuming, and fatiguing. Second, each end of a twisted string must be fused together to prevent unraveling. Thus a simple tear can cause the string to become untwisted, unraveled, and unusable.
Hence, a need exists for an improved mop with a wringing mechanism that provides for substantially quicker and physically easier use and a mop head with improved durability that provides the same or increased absorbent qualities as conventional mops.